In November, the Obama administration decided to delay a decision on whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline to bring tar sands from Canada to the United States. But in December, Republicans attached a provision to a tax bill, which President Obama signed, that urges the administration to decide on the pipeline within 60 days,…

In a video submitted to Planet Forward, Organica explained how their new home system maximizes water management while providing all of the comforts Americans currently enjoy.

Last week, Danica May Camacho of the Philippines became the world’s symbolic seven billionth person. The occasion drew mixed feelings in the policy world — what does a booming global population mean for climate risks? To cite one issue, leaders are worried about the declining supply of water in regions vital to economic growth. This…

The world population reached seven billion people around October 31, according to United Nations estimates. The actual date is a bit fuzzy, but the milestone has nonetheless had great symbolic power, triggering a stream of articles on population issues. Nicholas Kristof, in the New York Times, argued family planning is the solution to many of…

A leaked World Bank document, due to be presented at the G20 meeting in November, proposes that rich countries eliminate their fossil fuel subsidies and instead contribute the money to climate aid for poor countries to help with green energy and adaptation measures. The paper also said donor countries are unlikely to come up with…

When it comes to water from hydrofracking, the question of safety is murky at best. The Chemical Cocktail of Fracking Fluid For many folks the big baddie of hydraulic fracturing, also called hydrofracking or fracking, is fracking fluid — the mixture of water, sand, and chemicals that’s injected deep below the surface to fracture the…

Across America, people are standing up for clean water. On Saturday, thousands gathered in nearly 60 cities as part of the Green The Block “National Day of Action,” which focused on the nation’s water crisis. From California to New York, people came together to demand clean water for their children and communities. Right now, Americans…

Former three-term Albuquerque mayor Marty Chavez has some sage advice for other mayors: “Providing water may not get you elected, but not providing water will get you fired.” It seems New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg could use his advice. In a recent interview with Planet Forward, Chavez told us that New York City is losing…

Folks have lots of questions to ask about the environmental impact of natural gas fracking, but the more important questions to ask may have to do with the economics. Ultimately, the two lines of questioning are intertwined. (Related: “The Great Shale Gas Rush”) I reached out on Twitter for questions yesterday before I moderated a…

Putting the “geo” in engineering could screw up the “geo” in politics. ‘Plan A’ Still on the Table Scientists have warned for decades that our dependence on fossil fuels is the root cause of global warming and to slow the warming we’ll need to wean ourselves off of them and ramp up low-carbon technologies. Flash…

If you follow the news on the development and production of natural gas and oil from shale rock buried deep underground, you have probably seen or read stories about the potential risks to fresh water supplies posed by hydraulically fracturing (“fracing”) and producing shale gas. You may have heard that the New York State Legislature…